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New Director Named for Center for Leadership and Ethics

(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LEXINGTON, Va., Jan. 31 -- Virginia Military Institute issued the following news:
Retired Army Col. David R. Gray has been named director of VMI's Center of Leadership and Ethics and will report for duty in August.

Col. David Miller, the director of International Programs, will continue to serve as interim director until then. Miller has been serving as interim director since last summer, when retired Navy Capt. Susan Rabern left the Center to become assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller.

"Colonel Gray brings the perfect combination of skills, experiences and intellectual acumen to take the Center for Leadership and Ethics to the next level," said Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III '62, superintendent. "The Center will continue to focus on the leader development of cadets and will continue to build its reputation for delivering world-class conferences on the most pressing matters for our nation."
Gray's 30-year Army career included tours as an operations officer and strategist on the Joint Staff and the Department of the Army Staff. He also participated in both peacekeeping and combat operations in Haiti, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Col. Gray, an infantry officer, commanded the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in northern Iraq in 2005 and 2006.

He has taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he served as an assistant professor of history as a captain. Later, as a colonel, he held the Chair of Officership at the Academy's William E. Simon Center for Professional Military Ethic. Gray has also taught history at the University of Maryland and at Ohio State University.

A native of Herscher, Ill., Gray earned a bachelor of arts degree in history from Western Illinois University. He also holds a master of science degree from the U.S. Army War College, and a master of arts and doctorate from Ohio State University. He has attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Armed Forces Staff College.

Gray retired from the Army in 2010. He is currently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he teaches senior officers at Saudi Arabia's War College.

Gray and his wife, Karen, have three daughters, Stephanie Bankson and Jennifer and Megan Gray.

"Service and education are passions for me," said Gray. "I am very honored and humbled to be selected to lead VMI's Center for Leadership and Ethics. Karen and I are very excited to join the VMI team and look forward to meeting the members of the Lexington community."
Gray's military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (3), Bronze Star Medal (2 awards), Joint Defense Service Medal (2), Army Commendation Award (2), Army Achievement Award (2), Armed Forces' Expeditionary Medal (2), Combat Infantryman's Badge, Expert Infantryman's Badge, Ranger Tab, and Parachutist and Air Assault badges.

Dedicated in 2009, VMI's Center for Leadership and Ethics develops and sponsors programs to advance the understanding, practice, and integration of leadership and character development at the Institute and to share insights gleaned from the VMI programs with a broader national audience. In addition to organizing or hosting conferences of statewide and national importance, the CLE also oversees several cadet leadership programs.